Superstructure

Author: Michael Cox
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: At the beginning, houses were all built with mud, so after every heavy rain, architects' imaginations became increasingly unrestrained—they started building castles with stones, constructing temples that were grand and towering, and buildings that grew taller and taller, reaching into the clouds. Who will break the record for the tallest skyscraper tomorrow? Take a look at these funny stories of these brilliant architects, meet a con man who sold Big Ben, and a person who gets lost in their own home, and pay a visit to a lady with a door growing on her sole. After reading Skyscraper Upgrades, you'll definitely feel: "I can start designing my own skyscraper upgrades."
Foolish Builders
On your way to school every day, you must see hundreds and thousands of buildings. Some have doors without hinges, some have cracked tiles, and some are covered with excessively thick bricks—these are all minor issues, insignificant, and these buildings can still be considered normal. However, there are indeed some buildings that are completely unusual—absolutely bizarre! In the 18th and 19th centuries, England had many such strange buildings. At that time, some wealthy nobles who had more money than they knew what to do with went crazy about architecture. They would always hire foolish builders to create foolish buildings, which often cost a fortune but served no purpose at all! How did they become so "foolish"? William Beckford was one of these "foolish" builders. In fact, William was not foolish from a young age—he only developed the madness of architecture later in life. In 1770, when he was just ten years old, his father died, leaving him a sugar plantation in Jamaica, some country houses, and a weekly allowance of ￡2,000 (just so he wouldn’t lack money!). Below is how William spent his time and money.